The Fugitive (1963) s02e09 Episode Script

Escape Into Black

Is something wrong, Miss Ruskin? Here, get dressed.
What's this? Don't ask questions.
Well, what is this? Do you know who I--? You're Dr.
Richard Kimble.
You're convicted of murder and they're coming to get you right away.
Murder? Who? Your wife.
( dramatic theme playing ) I killed my wife? Look, doctor, if I thought you were guilty I wouldn't be here right now.
Doctor Towne was right.
Will you listen to me? If they catch you they'll execute you.
They'll kill you.
Do you understand? NARRATOR: ( dramatic theme playing ) A QM Production.
Starring David Janssen as Dr.
Richard Kimble.
An innocent victim of blind justice, falsely convicted for the murder of his wife, reprieved by fate when a trainwreck freed him en route to the death house.
Freed him to hide in lonely desperation.
To change his identity.
To toil at many jobs.
Freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime.
Freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
ANNOUNCER: The guest stars in tonight's story: Betty Garrett, Ivan Dixon.
Also starring Barry Morse as Lieutenant Philip Gerard.
ANNOUNCER: ( dramatic theme playing ) NARRATOR: Another stopping place at the end of another road.
If your name is Richard Kimble, you're guilty of escape and flight.
You have no future unless you can find the past; the night of September 17, two years ago.
You saw the man who killed your wife that night.
The face was there for only a moment.
You'll never forget it.
And you keep looking.
Today a truck driver mentions a one-armed man in Decatur.
( tires screech ) The description fits.
Coffee, mister? Please.
I didn't hear you pull up.
I didn't.
Say, uh, I'm looking for an old acquaintance of mine.
I heard that he might be working somewhere in Decatur.
In a restaurant.
You call this a restaurant? Well, you'd remember this fellow.
He has one arm missing.
WOMAN: Marty.
Might ask the wife.
She never forgets anybody.
Fire, Marty! Fire! ( dramatic theme playing ) Shut down the main valve! I'll get the fire extinguisher! Well, he wouldn't be alive at all if the other fellow hadn't dragged him outta there.
What's his name? I don't know.
Miss Proctor? Barlow.
Frank Barlow.
Omaha, Nebraska.
Well, you better see that his family is notified.
These were her things.
Not even a thank you.
Why should he? His daughter is dead.
Oh, yeah, but you stuck your neck out for her.
Frank Barlow.
We were having trouble locating the family.
The address is wrong so we're passing the buck to Social Services.
Why don't you wait till he regains consciousness then he can fill us in himself.
Mm, he's awake already, but, uh, well It's too bad.
He's a dreamy-looking guy too.
You still have trouble hearing? Vision still blurred? I feel dizzy.
DOCTOR: Like motion sickness? What's your name? I don't know.
Do you remember what happened to you? Explosion.
Where'd it happen? I don't remember.
Are you married? I don't remember.
Do you remember Omaha, Nebraska? I can't think.
What's the matter with me? What's eight plus four? Twelve.
What's your name? I There's nothing to be afraid of.
Just a temporary loss of memory.
Usually corrects itself within a few days.
I'm Dr.
Bloch.
This is Dr.
Towne.
He's our neuropsychiatry specialist.
You're in good hands.
TOWNE: You've suffered a traumatic injury.
BLOCH: Big bump on the head.
Yes.
Abnormal pressure on the brain, internal bleeding in the cranial cavity.
You have a cut right here.
He-- Hematoma.
Yes, a subdural hematoma.
Also both eardrums have been ruptured.
You know my name? Barlow.
Frank Barlow.
Frank Barlow.
Thank you.
I-- I'll try to remember.
You have no social security record of him? Yes, Frank Barlow.
Strange.
All right, uh, try David Merrill.
That's a name I found on a driver's license in his pocket.
Yes.
No, the labels in his clothing come from stores all over the country.
That's right.
Yeah, thank you.
Oh, Miss Ruskin, Sergeant Lascoe's here about that Frank Barlow thing.
There's something I want to say first.
I was sorry about that girl.
Of course.
Did you apologize to her father too? People always think it's-- It's personal with the police.
Always get sore.
Isn't there something personal about a child's life? She was only 18.
Let's drop this, shall we? The sergeant had no choice.
Neither did the doctor.
He had to make that report.
You reported her? Of course I did.
Lady, the law says a doctor's gotta report an addict.
Thank you.
I know the rules.
Yes, knows the rules but usually obeys her sentiments, which are very active.
Isn't there something wrong with rules that drive a girl to suicide? When you are ready, Miss Ruskin, we'll forget about that case and go on to the next one.
Dr.
Towne, you're a very unusual man.
Hitchhiker.
Known as Frank Barlow.
Male, Caucasian, American.
There's nothing here I haven't reported to the Missing Persons Bureau.
See for yourself.
Any, uh-- Any chance of getting his fingerprints tonight? Well, I'll check with Dr.
Bloch.
His hands were rather badly burned.
( dramatic theme playing ) Feeling better, Mr.
Barlow? I'm feeling much better, thank you.
May I sit down? I have permission to ask some more silly questions.
Well, if you don't mind silly answers Silly doesn't bother me.
Clever answers do.
Clever answers? Mr.
Barlow, I'm a welfare worker.
I'm not a detective or a reformer.
All I'm supposed to do is investigate your case and determine financial responsibility.
Why the lecture? 'Cause I can't help feeling that you're hiding something.
You mean to think I'm faking all this? Oh, you can't.
Not for long.
Dr.
Towne is too wise and too thorough.
Well, you tell Dr.
Towne, or whoever it is, that I accept financial responsibility for all this.
That I, personally, will work the rest of my life to pay off this bill if somebody will just get me out of this trap.
Look, lady, I don't know who I am.
What about Frank Barlow? That's a name a doctor gave me.
David Merrill? You had Frank Barlow in your wallet, David Merrill in your driver's license.
I've got "Decatur General Hospital" inside my bathrobe.
What does that mean? I checked out David Merrill on E Street in Las Vegas, and there is no such address.
That's fine.
You just keep finding out who I'm not.
That ought to keep you busy for a while.
( dramatic theme playing ) I'm sorry.
Let me help you.
You shouldn't be walking by yourself.
( door closes ) ( ominous theme playing ) What is it? You know him? Do you remember something? Nurse.
Nurse.
( dramatic theme playing ) Mr.
Barlow, uh, Dr.
Bloch has given Sgt.
Lascoe your permission to get some fingerprints from you.
Any dizziness since yesterday? I wasn't dizzy, doctor.
I just passed out.
Still can't find any family for you, Barlow.
I mean, I guess it's Barlow.
Nothing seems to check out.
Dr.
Bloch said the left hand only.
Actually, we've got two pretty good chances.
If you ever did time in the army or if you ever did time in jail.
Either way we'll be able to pin it down inside 48 hours.
May I have your clipboard please? Yes.
Excuse me.
Yep, you're nobody or you're somebody.
Maybe a hitchhiker Maybe one of those famous lost millionaires.
A lot of people get disappointed though.
Not too many turn out to be millionaires.
LASCOE: Did I hurt you? No.
no.
Relax.
Just relax.
I'll be careful.
Ugh.
I better just try the thumb and the middle finger.
Those others look pretty sore.
All right.
Relax.
I must be nervous about the million dollars.
( chuckles ) ( dramatic theme playing ) Had you ever seen him before that night? No, never.
Well, what did he talk about? Was there any conversation? Well, he, um, had some coffee and, uh, let's see now-- Oh, yeah.
H-he was looking for some friend of his.
Someone here? In Decatur? Well, that's what he thought.
Yeah, someone working in a restaurant.
I recollect that handed me a laugh.
Ooh.
Did he tell you the name of his friend? No, uh, he said it was a fella with one arm cut off, but, uh, we never did get around to names.
Well Well, I guess that's all.
Thank you.
It's very helpful.
( dramatic theme playing ) Oh, the employment center sent these over for you.
"Handicapped.
" "Amputeeskitchen help.
" Eight in the past month.
If anyone asks you, I'm taking the rest of the day off.
You? ( sarcastically ): Well, that's a new one.
( coughing ) Oh, Miss.
Yes.
Where would I find Miss Ruskin's office? Oh, well, Miss Ruskin is gone for the day, but perhaps I could help you.
I'm her assistant.
( coughing continues ) Nurse! Nurse! What are you doing? This man is hemorrhaging.
Get me a half cc of morphine, and hurry up.
Dr.
Bloch! Dr.
Bloch! Hemorrhage.
Get me a half cc of morphine.
( ominous theme playing ) Nice work, doctor.
Miss Proctor, the nurse, tells me you were quick, efficient, and right.
Yeah, I was.
Why do you suppose a doctor-- And apparently a good one.
--would be thumbing his way across the country? No friends looking for him.
No relatives.
( sighs ) We only think I'm a doctor.
We know you are.
What do you suggest? You sure you want that? Yeah, I'm sure.
All right.
I think your mind is hiding something from you.
I think you don't want to remember who you are.
You don't want to be that person any longer.
You might even have been subconsciously seeking an accident A mechanism that would drop a curtain over a memory too horrible for your conscience.
A blow on the head.
Escape into blackness.
Actually self-inflicted.
Except this is no escape, doctor.
It's like being at the bottom of a well.
Yes, and you're fighting it.
So you're going to come out of it someday.
You'll be a lot better off to come out of it under control.
Your control? Yes, why not? Why do you take all of this interest, doctor? Is it curiosity or does it come under the heading of research? Why, both.
I might even present a paper.
That's what I am to you? A statistic for a medical report? Doctor-- No, no.
Maybe I'm not a doctor.
Maybe I'm-- ( sighs ) --an ambulance driver.
All right.
A doctor, any doctor, spends a long time learning the rules of nature and what happens when those rules are broken.
Now that was eight years for me, and I scrubbed floors.
Now, I'm good at what I do.
In fact, I'm the best.
I have to be.
Now suppose I let you become a person in my life, and suppose later on I found out that you were a doctor.
A doctor who blew it.
The rules say that I would naturally despise you, and that I'd probably somehow, subconsciously, try to bust your bucket.
Well, now, I don't want to do that.
So I don't care about the person.
Is that clear? I wonder if You wonder what? If I ever felt the same way? No.
No, I'd say you felt sorry for someone.
An illegal operation, perhaps, or a mercy killing.
Something that also broke the laws of man.
( sighs ) What do you want me to do? Well, I could stimulate your memory.
Force the curtain back.
With drugs? Pentothal, for example.
All right.
You're willing? Yes.
All right.
( dramatic theme playing ) Excuse me.
You have a Mr.
Johnson employed here? A Fred Johnson? Disabled.
Dishwasher.
Hurry it up, miss, we're busy.
( ominous theme playing ) My name is Ruskin.
From the Social Welfare Bureau.
We have an amnesia victim at the hospital.
Your headache's gone.
You'll be able to talk to me now.
Your mind is free.
No restraints.
Memories will begin to come back.
You're the eighth person I've seen today.
The last possibility.
Would you just look at this picture? ( dramatic theme playing ) No, I don't know the guy.
All right.
Thank you.
Maybe you can remember your father's name.
John.
Your mother's name? Elizabeth.
Your name? Your name? Dick.
Dick.
Good, Richard.
We're getting somewhere now.
Richard.
Dr.
Richard? The last name, Richard.
You know it.
All right.
All right, Richard.
Are you married? ( speaks indistinctly ) Is there a girl? Your wife? Yes.
No, I-- I mean no.
Well, which is it, Richard? Yes or no? No.
You were married? Yes.
Did she die? Richard, did your wife die? All right.
All right, easy.
Easy, Richard.
Relax.
That's it.
Are there any children? Do you have a daughter, son? None.
N-nothing.
No.
All right.
No children.
I-- I wanted toadopt.
I wanted to adopt children.
I-I wanted to have other people's children.
My ownchild.
Richard, are you a pediatrician? Yes.
Yes, so you see, doc.
( speaks indistinctly ) My own child.
Discuss it.
I-I-- I didn't say anything about divorce, Helen.
I said child.
I-- Had an interest in adopt-- It's all right.
It's all right, Richard.
Lie back.
Relax.
It's all right.
That's it.
Can you hear me? Yes.
All right.
You're back there now.
Now, go on.
Tell me about the argument.
No.
Yes.
Yes, Helen is there with you.
You're arguing with her.
Tell me about it, Richard.
Let it out now.
N-no.
No.
( dramatic theme playing ) Just rest easy.
What happened? We'll talk about it.
No, now.
I want to know now.
All right.
You are a doctor.
A pediatrician.
You were married.
Your wife is dead.
Maybe you were glad that she died.
Maybe that's the guilt you carry around on your back.
How did she die? Well, we'll come to that later.
( ominous theme playing ) Police Department? Give me Homicide.
( dramatic theme playing ) No.
Well, why call me? I have no authority to keep him here.
Yes, yes, the superintendent.
Yes, I'll refer that to him right away.
What is it, doctor? Your Mr.
Barlow.
His name is Richard Kimble.
He's a doctor.
He killed his wife.
He couldn't.
Remember reading about it? He was convicted in Indiana.
He blamed a stranger.
A cripple, I believe.
With one arm? Yes, something like that.
I've been looking for something like that all afternoon.
I talked to eight one-armed men.
One is the right one.
Isn't that a bit romantic? It must be true.
The guilty one called the police.
Sergeant Lascoe took fingerprints, Miss Ruskin.
I'm certain that's the way he learned the truth.
Did he say? No, but the assumption that you found the guilty man in one afternoon is ridiculous.
Now, listen to me.
We have the guilty man.
He's a fugitive and he's dangerous.
Now, this time we've done our duty both medically and morally.
This time we can agree.
Okay? Maybe.
Good.
Now, you tell Sergeant Lascoe, when he comes, about the men you found.
He'll know what to do.
( scoffs ) ( dramatic theme playing ) Hello, this is Dr.
Towne.
Would you get the superintendent for me, please? Is something wrong, Miss Ruskin? Here get dressed.
What's this? Don't ask questions.
Now, what is this? Do you know who I am? You're Dr.
Richard Kimble.
You're convicted of murder and they're coming to get you right away.
Murder? Who? Your wife.
I killed my wife? Look, doctor, if I thought you were guilty, I wouldn't be here right now.
Dr.
Towne was right.
Will you listen to me? If they catch you they'll execute you.
They'll kill you, do you understand? Yes.
Then put these on.
I'm gonna get you out of here.
( siren blaring ) ( dramatic theme playing ) Excuse me.
I-I'd, uh, like to look at some back newspapers, please.
How far back? Starting about two years ago.
Right back there in the file room.
Thank you.
Hello again.
I spoke to one of your employees last night.
A Mr.
Johnson.
Johnson? Whatever he calls himself, he's a bum.
Right in the middle of the busiest part of the night he goes out for a smoke.
That's the last I see of him.
I think he may have had good reason for running out on you.
Do you know where he lives? These people come and go, miss.
Who knows? Who asks? Who cares? ( dramatic theme playing ) WOMAN 1: There'd be screaming night after night.
She kept pleading with him.
I heard her say "you want me dead.
" KIMBLE: No.
She's wrong.
GERARD: The strands of hair under her nails positively are those of her husband, the defendant, Richard Kimble.
WOMAN 2: She screamed his name when she was being choked.
"Richard, Richard.
" She screamed it.
GERARD: No neighbor, no passerby, no motorist ever saw any one-armed man.
We've checked and re-checked.
There is no evidence of a one-armed man.
KIMBLE: But there was.
I saw him.
JUDGE: Have you reached a verdict? JUROR: We have, Your Honor.
JUDGE: How say ye? JUROR: We find the defendant guilty of murder in the First Degree.
KIMBLE: No.
JUROR: Guilty KIMBLE: Guilty? JUROR: Guilty, guilty, guilty.
JUROR: Guilty, guilty, guilty! JUDGE: Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty! ( dramatic theme playing ) KIMBLE: Dr.
Towne.
Well, doctor.
I couldn't go back to the hospital.
I had to see you.
Why? You missed a few of the answers.
You were right about me, doctor.
I-- I was trying to hide something.
Yes, I told you it would all come back to you.
I-it hasn't, doc.
I read about it in the papers.
What papers? The public library.
Look, are you handing me a line? No.
I don't remember it.
I just read about it in the papers.
The verdict, the evidence.
I know I-- I could have done it.
All right, you want a clinical opinion? I think you know that you did kill your wife.
You crave the punishment.
You're punishing yourself.
T-that's no good.
That's like reading it in the papers.
What are you asking for? Therapy? Yes.
Turn yourself in.
No, that's suicide.
Where do you think you're headed? You're going to wind up blowing your brains out.
Not with your help.
I-- I put my life in your hands.
You can't run out on me.
Oh, no, no.
Nobody's running out on you.
You ran out on yourself and on your profession.
And you think back.
I told you exactly what you could expect from me.
You said you didn't want to be a person in my life.
You said you'd wind up despising me.
But you know something, doctor, I think you're afraid of me.
I think you're afraid I'm gonna need a speck of humanity and you don't have it to give.
Now, you run off and hide in your rules, but I think you're a coward, doctor.
Kimble, you were a doctor and you took a life.
Now, I may be a coward but I'm not a Judas.
Now, is that how it happened? Is it? Huh? An argument.
Accusations.
You ran out of words and you grabbed her just like this? Huh? No, I-- Listen to me, Kimble.
If you do turn yourself in, it'll work in your favor.
The circumstances are different now.
There's a medical aspect to the case.
Your amnesia is genuine.
A clever defense attorney can use that.
He can use it to push the appeal that they denied you before.
They tried appeal-- Listen to me.
Listen to what I'm trying to say.
They will not execute a man who does not know that he's killed.
Let me drive you downtown.
Let me take you to Sergeant Lascoe.
He understands these things.
No, I'll go back.
I-- I'll go back to Stafford where it began.
There's a detective there.
Gerard.
He knows the case.
I-I'll call him and tell him I'm coming in.
You'll never make it.
I'll make it if you'll lend me 20 bucks and drive me to the railroad station.
Get in.
Get down in the back.
It's all over.
He wants you to forget it.
That's the only reason I promised to tell you.
Forget it.
He's gone.
You're out of it.
How could you possibly tell him to give himself up? I couldn't leave a murderer free to walk the streets.
But you lied to him.
His amnesia won't get him a hearing.
It might, but that's beside the point.
I did what should have been done.
And you never dirtied your lily-white uniform, did you, doctor? Oh, I lent the man 20 bucks.
I drove him to the train station.
How much more involved do you want me to get? Listen, if you so much as hint that I talked to that man without reporting it to the police, I'll be arrested.
I'll lose my license.
Is that what you want? Two defrocked doctors? I don't care about you, doctor.
Hello, Decatur Terminal? Would you give me the time for the next departure for Stafford? Well, when was the last one? Oh, thank you.
He's got to be on that 8:45 train.
Well, what do you int-- Miss Ruskin.
( bell clanging ) I'd like to-- I'd like to call, uh, Stafford, Indiana, p-please.
Phil, Mm-hm.
here's a contribution to your scrapbook.
Yeah? What is it? Possible identification on Richard Kimble.
Fingerprints turned up.
A hospital in Decatur.
Why would he let them take his fingerprints? Well, when? I wanna know when.
( phone rings ) Yes? MAN: For you, lieutenant.
Who's calling? He won't say.
Uh, he won't say? It's from Decatur.
From where? Decatur.
Well, all right, put him through.
It's Decatur.
Maybe they've got him.
Lt.
Gerard, this is Richard Kimble.
I understand you've been looking for me for some time.
Is this some kind of joke? Who is this? No, this is Richard Kimble.
I-- I only have a few minutes.
My train's about to leave.
I-I'm-- I'm coming in.
I'm turning myself over to you.
Have this call traced.
Go on, Kimble, tell me about it.
I've been told that if I come in by myself it would be much easier on me.
I understand I may have to accept punishment, and My train should arrive about Kimble, what is this? You're confessing to me after all this time? Well, you see, I've had this accident, and my mind isn't really working that properly.
The call's coming from Decatur all right.
All right, Kimble, we'll meet your train.
Kimble, are you still there? What do you make of it? Sounds phony to me, Phil.
He admitted it for the first time.
He admitted it.
Does he expect us to be waiting in a train depot while he takes off in the opposite direction? Maybe he's laying the groundwork for an insanity plea.
"Please come and get me.
" Well, I'll come and get him all right.
But I won't wait for that train.
(dramatic theme playing) Here.
We could board the train here.
It should pass Marshfield in approximately 78 minutes.
With a police escort we can get you there in an hour.
( horn blaring ) ( dramatic theme playing ) ( ominous theme playing ) RUSKIN: Richard! We're turning.
Look out! Richard, look at me.
You've got to get off this train right now.
He said I can't run anymore.
Forget what Dr.
Towne told you.
You're innocent.
Don't lie to me.
I have proof.
I saw the one-armed man.
I said don't lie to me.
Richard, let go.
( ominous theme continues ) All right, you two board up front.
You take the back.
Check every car and get the train moving again.
At your trial, you said it was a one-armed man who killed your wife.
Well, I spoke to him.
He recognized your picture.
He must have called the police.
They said I made him up.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( tires screech ) But I didn't.
I saw him.
I remember.
I saw him.
I saw him too.
When I got home she-- She was already ( dramatic theme playing ) Miss Russell, I-- I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to frighten you.
Ruskin.
Margaret Ruskin.
You'd better get off this train soon.
Go on.
( dramatic theme playing ) What is it? Step aside, please.
What's the trouble, officer? ( dramatic theme playing ) ( dramatic theme playing ) MAN ( over speaker ): Miss Ruskin, telephone please.
Miss Ruskin.
Telephone.
Hello, Miss Ruskin.
Thank you.
Hello? KIMBLE: Hello.
Richard, are you all right? Yes, I'm fine.
I wanted to tell you that things are starting to come back.
Not all of it yet, but One thing is clear.
I know I didn't kill my wife.
I was so afraid you hurt yourself when you jumped.
I've been watching the newspapers.
Well, I-- I knew you'd worry.
That's why I wanted to call you.
( sobbing ): I'm glad you did.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
Dr.
Towne, he remembers that he didn't kill her.
Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
( somber theme playing ) NARRATOR: Some will believe him, some will not.
Some will change their beliefs.
But most important, he again believes in himself.
He again has the will to run, and for a fugitive, this instinct is survival.
( dramatic theme playing ) ( dramatic theme playing )
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